With a population of 28.7 million, Peru is the fourth most populous country in South America. Lima, the capital, is the 18th largest city in the world and accounts for approximately 30% of the country’s population. Peru consists of western arid coastal plains and deserts, the central sierra highlands and Andes mountains, and eastern lowlands with tropical rainforests that are part of the Amazon Basin. Peru’s economy is driven by agriculture and mining.
A wide disparity of income exists in Peru, with the wealthiest 10% of the population controlling 35.4% of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 10% controls just 1.6%. The bulk of Peru’s population (54%) lives in poverty; the United Nations estimates that 19% live in “absolute poverty,” surviving on less than $1 (US) a day. This inequality is apparent in the large gap in access to basic services: in rural areas of Peru, according to the World Health Organization, only 63% of people have access to improved water sources, compared to 92% in urban areas. Sanitation is worse: only 36% of rural residents have access to improved sanitation facilities versus 85% of urban residents.
Water For People–Peru began its program in late 2008, selecting three rural municipalities: Cascas, La Libertad; Majes, Arequipa; and Tumbaden, Cajamarca. Water For People–Peru also recently expanded its programming to include work in peri-urban Arequipa. In each of these municipalities, Water For People works with local government, communities, schools, and private and civil society organizations.
In these areas as well as many other rural municipalities in Peru, the government invested significantly in water and sanitation development following a large cholera outbreak in the 1990s. Many of these aging systems are now partially or completely failed. Water For People–Peru seeks to largely rehabilitate existing infrastructure, extend services to those living without, and tackle the long-term sustainability challenges that have led to these high failure rates.
Lasting water and sanitation solutions can only be achieved when local role-players—the private sector, civil society, and local government—are supported. As such, Water For People–Peru is deeply involved with key local stakeholders, including Peru’s Vice Ministry of Housing and Sanitation; the municipalities of Cascas, Majes, and Tumbaden; the local NGO Soluciones Prácticas; and the private company AguaEcoSanPeru.
During 2011, Water For People–Peru will challenge subsidy-based water and sanitation approaches by supporting local water and sanitation businesses that help establish environmentally and financially sustainable water and sanitation services in rural and peri-urban areas. A country director has been hired, as well as three additional staff to support the growth and development of the program. In this initial stage of work, Water For People–Peru is in the process of establishing framework agreements with the municipal governments of Tumbaden and Cascas to determine programming for the year.
A FLOW baseline assessment will take place in both regions in the fall and Water For People–Peru has also been asked by both local governments to provide an analysis of their management of water and sanitation systems.
Water For People–Peru’s sanitation programming is concentrated in rural Majes and peri-urban Arequipa. Plans are under way to test innovative market-based approaches to sanitation in these areas, and some initial market studies have been completed, revealing potential opportunities for sanitation businesses. More comprehensive market analysis will be conducted to include market segmentation; gaps in infrastructure, service, and financing; sanitation options and practices; demand for goods, services, and end-products; and finally identification of current and potential suppliers of goods, services, and financial products. Water For People–Peru will also work with private sector partner AguaEcoSanPeru to various different technological options at different price points to meet the various demands of households across the economic and geographic spectra. A business development manager will be hired this year to support this program as well as market-based approaches to sanitation in Bolivia and Ecuador.
